Why All Video Views Are Not Created Equal – Tips For Seeding Branded Video Content

Major advertisers, including Nike, Ford, and Microsoft, are using the marketing practice of video seeding to reach online users with brand videos longer than the 15 or 30-seconds required by pre-roll video ads. Marketers like that video seeding reaches online audiences in environments that are inherently more social (YouTube, Facebook, blogs, mobile) than commercial. This helps the brand video and its message get passed along by more users than a traditional display video ad.

Video Seeding – Give Your Video A Head Start

Yet as a marketer, how do you know if video seeding is the right tactic for your ad campaign? If you envision people wanting to talk about and share your brand video on YouTube and blogs then it may be the way to go. Do you have a hook? Is there a celebrity involved? Or is your creative just plain awesome and buzz-worthy? If the answer is yes to any of these, video seeding is a strong option to get brand related video in front of audiences where it can be shared and commented on.

User choice and share-ability are why video seeding is well considered by users and advertisers. Both help audiences connect more deeply with video that seems more fun than commercial. This is the Holy Grail for marketers trying to engage audiences bombarded at every turn by ad messages. Once you recognize user choice and share-ability, you’ll be able to distinguish that not every video view is equal. This is important because all major video seeding companies including Feed Company, Sharethrough, and Viewable Media charge on a Cost Per View (CPV) basis for views they generate from video seeding.

Why Video Seeding Works

Consider Company A, who engages a website or video ad network to host their brand video. The views are delivered using a proprietary video player and tracked by the provider’s own reporting system. The videos can be auto-play, with or without sound, and below the fold where a real view is less likely. The video can also be shown multiple times to the same viewer yet all count toward a view, and there’s less opportunity for sharing.

Consider Company B, who engages a video seeding provider to place their video on websites, social networks, mobile devices, and gaming environments. The views are delivered using a shareable YouTube embed and tracked on YouTube’s reporting system. Every play must be initiated by the user and verified by YouTube, which has stringent qualifications for counting views. There’s also a sharing opportunity to help turn the right creative into a viral video for the brand.

Company A and B are both paying for video views but the audience, delivery, and engagement are different, as are the costs. Decide which approach best achieves the goals of your particular brand video campaign – reach vs. engagement – type of creative – commercial vs. social, and aspiration – display vs. viral – and plan accordingly.

Have Something to Say? We're listening!

Want to chime in on this article? Share your thoughts with us on Facebook or Twitter.

Josh Warner is president and founder of Feed Company, the video seeding company creative brands and agencies rely on to get video exposed to users on top blogs, video sites, and social networks. Our ability to guarantee millions of user-initiated views and social engagements make us the first choice for Fortune 500 companies and their agencies.

NOTE: Opinions expressed in this article are those of the contributing author and not necessarily that of TubularInsights.com